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Haglöfs Winter 2012 Preview

Lets have a look at the stuff we like, the stuff we want, but is it the stuff we’ll get to see in the shops? Here’s a preview of Haglöfs Winter 2012.
Below are a few highlights, stuff that caught my eye or that Gus flagged up and there’s a few crackers in there. There’s a change creeping through the range, a little UK influence in the design which is tightening up some of the techy features I think and of course purple is back in a big way which is a joy and a delight, whatever hue it is, we need colour in our outdoor gear.
Pretty much the whole range come in mens and wummins (Q) versions and there’s a mix of both in the photies.
This range is a precursor to a big relaunch of sorts where the long standing designs will all be discontinued at the end of this year, which means most importantly if my email inbox is anything to go by, get your Rugged Mountain Pants while you can, there won’t be any in 2013.

Above is the Gore-Tex Active Shell Endo Jacket in Oxy Blue and the new Endo II Pull. The Pull is identical to the jacket, active cut and genius softshell cuffs included, it’s just got a shorter zip which brings the weight down a little to 300g for a large. I’ve been wearing one of these and I’ll have a close up on it later, but the news is good.

Above is the 390g Tilta Jacket and it’s matching 320g pant below, both in Active Shell. It’s a proper mountain/alpine style in what I think is a brilliant fabric.
The cut is good, the hood is protective and the mesh lined pockets are well placed and a decent size. I’m wearing a green one below and you can see it’s a good length too.
The pants have long leg zips, knee articulation and a nice belt and popper waist.
The Tilta pair look like good all-round kit to me.

I used to love my old 90’s Karrimor Summit jackets, 3-layer ripstop Gore Tex with a hood you could hide in and here it is again, now called the Atlas.
It’s a trad British-style shell jacket at a sturdy 615g, you’d get a, whisper it, fleece under it and the hood is a shield of steel. Good big pockets, “map” pocket on the chest and some crowd pleasing colours. Hopefully it’ll be a success and they’ll do other colours next time. I liked the green right enough, but still, where’s the orange an’ that?

I love these hoods, above and below is the Spirit in Gore-Tex Pro Shell. 515g of mountain jacket with big chest pockets and a scooped tail.
There’s different weights of fabrics for weight saving and abrasion resistance, kind of a Spitz for non-climbers maybe?

Talking of which, above are the new colours for the Spitz II and the girls Spinx version below. Doesn’t it make you glad that even the black one’s got colourful zips? Gore-Tex Pro Shell all round and 520g above versus 485g below.

Above and below is the Vassi jacket and pants. They’re a loose cut freeride combo for folk that look cool on a snowboard, which is obviously not me.
Hugely featured, hugely detailed and hugely expensive, they’re made of Gore-Tex Pro Shell and are an absolute joy.
I love the marriage of tech, practicality, wacko style and screw-you-hippy colour choice. Everything in life should be like this.

This is the new Astral Jacket in 2-layer Gore-Tex. Nice and clean design, comfy and a good hood. It’s 710g and would be a good do-it-all from work to the hill, something that your sub 300g jackets can’t hack as well as we’d hope.
The fit was excellent on me as you can see below, I liked it, easy to get distracted by the top end tech stuff.

Haglöfs stalkers jacket? The Tundra does have that look about it, and when did you last see a jacket that long? It’ll keep the wind and rain off your arse that’s for sure. 730g of 2-layer Gore-Tex with huge pockets to hide your salmon or rabbit in. The girl’s version gets a purple option. Humph.

Haglöfs own Proof waterproof fabric comes on two and three layer versions and gets used on several proper techy designs as well as your more basic er, dog walker jackets. There’s an eco element as well, both of the Proof jackets above are made from recycled polyester.
The Velum Q on the left, 445g wummins medium, and the 740g Incus are both 2-layer Proof with a separate lining which I always think is comfy to wear if bulky to pack. nice detailing and good all-round jackets, I just widh they’d sex up the men’s colourways a bit.

Below is proof that Paclite still lives, it’s the LIM II Q (used to be the LIM Ultimate) in Griffon purple with Emerald for the boys behind. It’s still a good design, I’ve got a couple of these and it’s still right there with whatever the next best thing is for the new season, you just have to work with Paclite’s moisture management.

This cheery bunch is the Shield collection. The polyester windproof fabric is a good one, I’ve washed and worn this stuff for years and the addition of the thin softshell back and underarm panels seems to have been well received as they’re still doing it. New to the lineup is the Glaze Jacket as the far right, with a bike friendly design of rear zipped pocket and reflectotronics and a cool weather slant with a brushed flannel inner.

Shelled insulation has been popular and there’s some new models. Above is hims and hers Utvak Jackets, Proof outer shell and Primaloft fill, 100g in the body and 60g. Heavy, but designed for snowsports and general winter use by folk like me where it’ll be so cozy you won’t care.

Gus is hiding in the mighty Vassi Parka, same Primaloft 100/60 as above but here we’ve got a Gore-Tex outer. It’s long in length and it’s got pockets agogo. The main zip has an offset to give you a nice smooth face warmer and there nice detailing all over. There’s a purple version for the blokes as well as the girls. Ha.

The Gore-Tex shelled Nevluk in blue gets some updates with a longer length, snowskirt and handwarmer pockets that go behind the insuation.
It’s pals are the new his and hers Qanir Jackets which have a Windstopper shell with the same mighty Primaloft 100/133g fill as the Nevluk. A warm bunch, my Nevluk is my winter #1 jacket.

The Barrier Pro range continues with some new colours, that’s the Jacket and Hood above. Very light with decent warmth, the hood with a down vest is a killer combo for camp.

New below are the Essens Down Jacket and Vest. Small baffles with PowerStretch arm gussets a small packsize and light weight. Important to note that the vest has elastic arm holes, amazingly not everyone does this.
I’ve been using a jacket and I’ll have a review up later. Yes, I have the purple one.

And so to the might down kit, the Magi Down Hood and its Q sister. Stuff like this always feels good when you wear it, its like being upholstered in the lining of an angels nest. Weights are 755g and 675g for the Q, down is 800fill of 93/7 goose down in a box wall construction and the shell is recycled polyester 20D ripstop.
There’s even bigger and badder models too, the Yalda and the Aquilo which are monsters.

The Lizard Jacket gets a purple makeover for men and quite right too.

Below are the new fuse Vest and Fuse Jacket. These are Windstopper multisport tops with pockets for bikers and runners nice protective thumbloop cuffs (see below). The fabric is a stretchy variant and the grey back panels are in the lighter FlexAble for a bit better breathability and weight saving. Feels good on, but looks oddly like a medieval knights jousting underwear hanging up.

This is the Fin Hood in Windstopper. It’s a well featured heavy duty mountain softshell with proper hood, usuable pockets and pitzips. Weight is 605g and the fit and cut is excellent with a surprisingly long body for something that’ll attract climbers as did it’s much missed ancestor, the Sharkfin. Nice.

More Windstopper above with the Pelamis Jacket and the Eryx Hood. These are interesting because it shows how weight can vary so much with fabric choice and design. The Jacket is 610g and the Hood is 520g, always worth looking at the spec before you go and whine on an outdoor forum.

Above are the Rando Pants in FlexAble. Great fabric and a good all round winter design, the good news is that both of these colours are available in girls and boys sizes along with rubbish black.

The Lizard Pants below will come in three colours this winter and they nicely fill the gap between leggings and softshell pants. Simple is good.

The emotion is real, honest, the Bungy Hood above will get a proper write up later, it’s still got work to do. The whole Bungy range Vest/Jacket/Top/Hood continues and gets new colours.

There’s some new colours for the Isogon Jackets and Hoods above, the Thule Hood’s below and the Zone Jackets below them. I’m pleased of course.

The Actives baselayer range gets some colour changes and some new models. The Actives Warm Zip Top gets a new friend in the Warm Hood which I’m wearing below. I like it, I’m not scared of hooded baselayers. Although to be honest, as it’s a beefy baselayer with a pocket, I think it’ll be a cracking light midlayer over a t-shirt or a vest. Good whatever I think.
That’s the matching Short John with the blue trim and the Q Knicker for the ladies.

Save the best until last? This is the Roc Legend Mid GT, an approach, scrambling, gadding about boot, It comes with a Sole footbed, Vibram sticky rubber outsole, suede upper and a Gore-Tex liner. I want them I want them I want them.

Not a bad assortment, a lot in there caught my eye and it’s great to see so much colour. I’ll have some reviews of winter samples coming up soon. Still can’t get the wummins purple samples to fit me no matter how much I try though.

Good stuff, too much to take in really. I did buy a Thule Hood once but sent it back as the large came up massive sized, compared to my older Haglofs bits. The Endo Pull looks a nice bit of kit.
My old Nube2 mahoosive down jacket is off to Denali with a mate next month. Perfect place for big balls of down! Should be in it’s element.

Invasion of purple! And I know what you mean about trying to get the womens versions to fit I tried but failed to get the womans berghaus active shell to fit as it’s purple when it was only availible through cotswold (due to 20% discount I got with them through uni)

Matt, it’s want versus need as always. I’m in the same place as you, I just enjoy seeing the evolution of it all now and it’s a bonus when I see kit that really does get me grinning. There’s a few of those above but the best of all is that mental snowboard outfit.

Martin, the original Endo Pull sample was indeed something very different, great fit with some very, er, progressive design elements. But, the hood was properly rubbish and this version is better.
The Actives hood is a lovely thing, and guess what colour the Actives come in…

I’m just relieved that they’ve started making things longer again. The ‘fashion’ for ultra short kit was getting ridicilous.
I’ve an XXL Rab Demand pull on that just about reaches a rucsack hip belt on me. Use it for running though.

As all the manufacturer’s copy each other there’ll be plenty of longer length stuff that cover the vital parts.

The Ozo is different enough to make it a choice rather than a replacement I think. The Endo is cut better though.

The colours were all inspired by 70’s wallpaper and carpets, as am I :o)

Long jackets are great, I’ve enjoyed wearing the Haglofs thing the name of which escapes me, big orange shell, it cobvers my backside very well.
Colours? Suggested by trend consultants no doubt, so aye, they all copy each other.

I got a spirit in the sale just before Christmas, took it to Skye with me for new year and pretty much lived in it…and i love it. the length and fit are just about spot on the hood adjusts nicely so feels nice and secure

It’s the first time i’ve worn Goretex for ages (other than wearing my old ultimate in the summer) and i’m pleased to say this new stuff seems every bit as good as the event in the rab superdru and montane superfly xt i’ve just sold.

We had that here a while back, folk everywhere were wearing The North Face Nuptse down jackets in the sunshine, in the rain, in the pub, at gigs etc.
Part of the reason TNF became thought of as a casual rather than technical brand.

Ach, I dunno about Neoshell, aye it’s breathable, but I still think it’s too stiff and heavy.
Been testing their new Alpha fabric, kind softshell/ultralight synthetic insulation hybric thing. And the jacket’s orange :o)

from the reviews i’ve read , they reckon to call neoshell the most breathable shell compared to the competition is splitting hairs.. i also read the waterpoof rating after 50 washes drops from 10,000mm to 5,000
and it has to be washed pretty much with every use like event.. so whats its long term durability going to be, and do you really want to fork out that sort of money for a jacket that looses its waterproof rating at that rate?
also how breathable a shell is, is as much to do with how thin the face fabric is, people rave about active shells breathability and its as much to do with the thin face fabrics it’s married with… as the breathability of the membrane

its interesting, you’ve got rab and westcomb using event as their main waterproof shells. and they both use neoshell as well but only have select items with neoshell. its more expensive but its similar in performance to event… is it a case of they are diping thir toe into the water with neoshell and if it doesnt work out durability wise then they will cut their loses or they just leave the choice up to the punters
there were a lot of issues with event, there was a mill putting out bad quality event, that delaminated easily there was also issues with the face fabric durability, aparently a lot of companies got stung with the fabric and had a lot of returns. so theres a risk with adopting new technology early. especially when its so expensive, in australasia on the forums i see quite a few people angry at macpac about the quality of their event clothes and their customer service over sorting it out left a lot to be desired. and if you sell event, gore tex won’t sell their product to you so you’re burning your bridges on where you can go with the product you can stock… i applaud companies that are willing to take the risk of stocking new product even if it means having to give up established technology, but please dont charge a premium for the new stuff, to a certain extent the customers are guinea pigs to find out the long term reliability of the product and the sellers are keen to get customer feedback to keep evaluating the products for future strategic decisions on what they should sell… personaly i’m dont really want to tak a punt on something like neoshell, i need to know my gear isnt going to degrade unecessarily and find i’m in the crap one day because the gear has had it before its time… thats why the laste two shells ive bought have been event shells and not the likes of neoshell… i bought the neoshell predecessor, powershield pro that was advertised as virtually waterproof, and that statement was the biggest load of bollocks i’ve come across in a long time, it was water resistant in brief showers and that was it. i froze my backside off in one storm because i was saturated in it.. so i’m not wearing any of the hype with neoshell too quickly…

and you’ve got gore tex bringing out gore pro in the next year which is essentially a sophisticated version of event and its going to be 500 quid a throw…., sure there will be people who go for it but you could get a couple of event garments or other garments for that price, will you take the risk of spending that much on something that has only just hit the market? or just believe in it because it’s from gore tex or because a well known outdoors person uses it? and will another better technology come along long before you get much use from your garment? and will that technology be cheaper. even given neoshells unknowns for long term durability, they are a better bet than forking out for what is probably going to be a similar quality garment from gore for far more money…. but still the outdoor companies wouldnt pitch this gear at these prices unless they knew from experience enough people will still buy them for them to make a nice profit out of it… and this argument is academic for the majority of people who can’t or won’t pay for this top end kit…. at the end of the day it may be safest to set your budget and stick to it when you go shopping… there are worse things to spend your money on. you can still fork out the big bucks and say you’re investing in your health and its no worse than forking out for an expensive gym membership…. its not as obvious as when you get the massive queues of people lining up to buy the latest electronic devices but there must be some similar sort of following in outdoor gear, otherwise the manufacturers wouldnt dare charge hwat they are charging for this new technology

I can sum up my own feelings on this stuff pretty quick. I stopped looking at fabric and started looking at features and fit, I think it’s the only way to get the best for yourself. It’s how I firts tried eVent, the original Montane Air jacket was the best fitting lightweight waterproof I’d ever tried.It’s still up there too.

Base, mid, shell, extra insulation for camp and rest. That’s it, everything else is tinkering and filling gaps in the market.
But, there’s nothing long with that, and I’ve got an unusual jacket in for test, the Anti Matter from The North face with is in Gore Windstopper Active, super winshell, softshell, light rain jacket? Dunno, but I absolutely love it.

read a few complaints about the air jacket, delaminating and the material fraying..

i’ve got a north face kishtwar that has a similar sounding membrane in it, polartec powershield pro. rated as “highly water resistant” problem is they didnt seam seal it and the vented pocket lining wicks moisture through the seams from outside negating any possible water resistant benefit… water gets through teh membrane and i’d only rate it as shower proof…

backpacking light did a comparative review of some of the latest waterproof membranes alongside gore tex..
they said it was splitting hairs to claim one was more breathable than the other… a less breathable membrane with a thinner face fabric could outperform a more breathable membrane with a thicker face fabric…. venting was the real deciding factor for breathability…

I think the inner scrim on membrane fabrics makes a huge difference as well, how well is absords sweat before it passes it to the outside makes the difference btween a light misting to feeling wet. Doesn’t matter how breathable Paclite is if the inside wets out under a heavy load.

I really noticed the difference between nylon/polyamide on Gore Tex and polyester, it’s one of those things you assume is hype, but more folk have been puttig nylong face fabrics on, so there is something in it.

yeah , agree about the difference btween 2 and three layerer membranes, i see some brands are trying wicking layers in some of their waterproof shells to aid the water staying in contact with the membrane so it can more easily start the process of passing through to the outside.
the reality sis 2 layer shells are better at being windbreakers than rain shells.. i only use 2 layer shells for weather where i now theres only going to be brief showers. besides two layers arent as durable for higher volume use compared to three layer

I remember the original Paclite which was a proper two layer with printed dots, that version of the fabric lasted a year or so I think? It was a slim fit so the fabric worked okay and it became my winter bike jacket for years.
The membrane took some damage and got delaminated in places, but it’s still the best two layer I’ve used. I’ve had a couple of Entrant two layers in recent times and they were sweat traps of despair.

Gotta say i never had any problems with my superfly XT and that was a good few years old (from when they changed the event logos over) it wasn’t washed as much as it probably should of been but it was still in fantastic condition when i sold it apart from the text on the label inside had washed off.

I’ve still got a pair of montain air pants which get used all of the time and are still going strong…even though they are now too big i’ll not be replacing them for a while.

also never had a problem with the event on the super dru and that was still like new after 2 years of use. I’ve heard a few people say they are having issues with various event jackets wetting out or “leaking” but when i’ve asked if they’ve washed it they said no so i’ve put it down to that..

i guess thats why a lot of people would go for gtx over even t as regualr washing of stuff seems to put people off as they are scared they will damage it or wear it out.

The GTX in the spirit jacket has so far proved to be a million times better and less sweaty that the stuff in the old lim ultimate i got from trail mag a few years back.

yeah it needs a better hood too, the Endo looks like a better LIM although i’ve not seen the latest version of the LIM so who knows.

just taken the dogs for a walk decided to use my really old berghaus jacket…which judging by the recipts in the pockets i’ve not worn since 2006. Its a proper heavy trench coat with zip in fleece, no gimicks just absolutely bomb proof, used to use it for fishing when i realised that the long cut just got in the way when out walking….although the extra length comes in handy when walking two over eager boxer dogs for my inlaws!

The Endo is way better than the LIM, the Endo Pull is better still. I’ve got a Gram Comp here which replaces the Oz and it’s scary light Gaore Active, you can amost see through it. Too far? Time will tell.

Long can be good, when the wind is howling and snow or rain is whistling through your knees, the at extra coverage is just what you need.

i’ve got the outdoor research Helium 2. thats see through,
pertex have chanced the membrane to a translucent one, with dots printed on it… reviews for it so far say its pretty robust and does stand up to a bit of abuse… dont know i’ll use it that much, only for the really cold showery days, i’m going to use a 2.5 layer event as a wind breaker/ shower jacket when the weather isnt too bad… the event DVL has only just came out so i’m a guinea pig essentially but its nice and compact and light so good for packing away…